Call forwarding is a telephone feature which allows a customer to direct a communications network to re-route telephone calls from one location to another location. Specifically, calls placed to a dialed number are re-routed to a telephone station identified by a different telephone number specified by the customer when setting up the call forwarding feature. Call forwarding, however, is susceptible to various telecommunications fraud schemes. In particular, persons attempting to defraud the telephone company (referred to hereafter as "hackers") subscribe, either legitimately or fraudulently, to telephone service with call forwarding as a service feature. The hackers then arrange to place calls to telephone numbers, using the call forwarding feature, which would otherwise be blocked by the network.
Current methods for protecting and preventing unauthorized use of the communications network have not adequately addressed the problem. For example, methods which detect fraud based on data obtained at the end of one or more billing cycles do not provide sufficiently timely information. By the time the information becomes available to indicate fraud, large amounts of fraudulent usage could already have occurred. Operator assisted calls involve further difficulties in detecting and blocking fraud because anti-fraud protections may be bypassed.